Competitive
by FemaleSpock
Summary: They've grown older but they haven't grown up. When D'jok and Rocket meet for the first time in years they find the rivalry between them is as fresh as it was in 'the glory days'. D'jok/Rocket.


Competitive

**Disclaimer:**** I do not own Galactik Football and I make no money from this fanfiction.**

**The Snow Kids are now in their early 40s and obviously not still playing Galactik Football. **

There are some days that you think just can't get any worse and then they some how do. D'jok should have known this as he wandered through the streets, not especially wanting to go home but going back there anyway because he simply had no-where to else to go. He was usually at work at this time, but not that day; that day he'd been fired from another stupid job. That made the third this year. They'd told him that he just wasn't a team player. What irony.

When he happened to bump straight into Rocket, he should have known that his day was going to get, if not worse, stranger. He recognised him instantly, which was strange because they hadn't seen each other in years. They hadn't spoken in years either, D'jok didn't speak the other ex-Snow Kids often but of all of them, he spoke to Rocket the least (partially because they had never really got on and partially because Rocket didn't really talk to anyone anymore).

"I never expected to see you here," D'jok said; Rocket hadn't been back to Akillian in years.

Rocket shrugged. "I didn't really expect to see you either."

"I live here," D'jok reminded him.

"I know. I just thought it'd be good to come back for a holiday," Rocket said, by way of explaining his presence on the tiny planet that had once been his home. In truth, he didn't really know what he was doing there at all.

D'jok supposed that they should 'catch up', that was the done thing, wasn't it? Besides, he'd rather have a drink with an old team-mate (they were never friends) than go back to his empty house.

"Let's not stand out in the cold, want to grab a coffee at Planet Akillian?"

Rocket was a little surprised; firstly that Planet Akillian still existed and secondly at D'jok's offer. He didn't particularly want to talk to D'jok for too much longer but he didn't really have an excuse for saying no. He was trying not to lie.

"Why not?"

Rocket followed D'jok to Planet Akillian, finding it amusing how Akillian, in many ways, had remained much the same.

Rocket shifted uncomfortably in his seat, whilst he waited for the drinks to arrive, Mana-ice was still working there- she was past retirement age but yet there she was. Akillian was frozen in more way than one and that was part of the problem- he'd never had anything to say to D'jok back in 'the day' and he had nothing to say to him now.

"How's Maya?" Rocket finally said, going for the obvious question. He disliked meaningless chit-chat but sometimes it was essential just to get you through a situation.

"She's…fine…" D'jok lied. Maya was far from fine; Rocket's question reminded D'jok he much needed the money from his job, his responsibility to her now that she was ill; she'd done so much for him, but he was barely managing to do anything in return.

"That's good," Rocket said, nodding, insincerely. Of course he knew D'jok was lying for whatever reason, telling falsehoods was never something that D'jok was any good at. In contrast, he'd become almost too good at lying, it was like breathing to him- he did it without thinking.

It was D'jok's turn now to ask an awkward question.

"You seeing anyone at the moment?"

"No. You?"

"Not at the moment," D'jok replied, aware of the (false) implication that he normally had a full and active romantic life when it wasn't so. In truth, the two of them were just two of life's washed-up losers, unable to cope when the dream had ended.

"Spoken to Tia recently?" D'jok asked, feeling a strange need to bait Rocket, to prove that if they were losers, then Rocket was the bigger one. After all, he had just waltzed back to Akillian after so many years as if he'd never been gone; he was on D'jok's turf.

How like D'jok to be so tactless, didn't he know that by now, Rocket was mostly over her?

"No, but as far as I know she's still happily married to that Pirate. And Mei?"

D'jok winced; he had set himself up for that one. He'd won Mei back from Sinedd's clutches for a second chance, only to have her leave again, 8 years later, 3 years after they had been married. Rocket would have read about the divorce, it was in all the papers. She spent most of her time focusing on her career now, she was lucky in that regard, there wasn't much market for models her age but she was doing well.

"What happened to Sinedd? He was your friend, wasn't he?" D'jok asked, partially in retaliation and partly because he was just curious. Holo-tv had gone oddly silent on the subject of Sinedd for the last couple of years, but before that there'd been the odd piece on him (due to his position as joint coach of the Shadows with Rocket) in which he'd looked increasingly thin, increasingly ill. D'jok couldn't say that he didn't deserve everything that happened to him. He hadn't died, that much was clear, there would have been some mention of that, perhaps he had simply retired (for that was the problem with the media, it was so fickle, it moved onto the next big thing without a glance back at the stars of yesteryear).

"That's none of your damn business!" Rocket said, getting angry now with whatever game D'jok was playing. The subject of Sinedd was still raw but the story was simple; Smog poisoning had continued to haunt him, even after he stopped playing, (Artegor had been the same way). In fact the lack of play almost seemed to make it worse, Sinedd's health steadily deteriorated and no matter how much Rocket reasoned with him, Sinedd just wouldn't give it up, even though he didn't even need it because he didn't even play anymore. When a new coach stepped in to replace the both of them, the thing holding them together was broken and Rocket had had enough. He'd left him to his addiction, having to live with guilt of knowing that Sinedd was going to end up dead of it one day.

Perhaps that was why he had come to Akillian, to put some distance between him and Sinedd.

"You didn't save him, did you? You were never good at saving people," D'jok said, taking a wild stab in the dark, trying to hint about everything that had happened with Netherball. The problem with trying to antagonise someone that you haven't seen in years is that the thing that the wounds that once hurt had long since healed; something that happened so long ago wasn't going to make him feel guilty now.

"And what have you done, D'jok, what have you done in the past few years that has been so great?"

"I've grown up; I've moved on, you're just repeating Aarch's mistakes."

"I'm leaving now, it's clear you can't let go of old grudges," Rocket said, having heard enough, getting up and leaving D'jok all by himself.

D'jok sighed. Provoking people was a bad habit of his and in the end it never made him feel good, he just got so caught up in the heat of the moment. Really, he had nothing against Rocket, not for a long time; D'jok had been in a bad mood and he'd was just there.

Most arguments can be solved with an apology, D'jok knew that but he could never bring himself to say that he was wrong. Even if he had wanted to apologise to Rocket, he couldn't; he had no idea where he was staying.

Rocket had known coming back to Akillian wasn't necessarily the best idea but he hadn't known it was going to be this bad. He resolved to leave tomorrow, whether to go back to the Shadows or go elsewhere, he did not know.

The next morning, Rocket was up early, packing all his things, so that he was ready to go and take the cheapest shuttle to wherever. He was about to leave when he got an insistent knock on his hotel room door.

He opened it and was dismayed to see D'jok standing there.

"You. How did you know where I was?"

"I can be pretty persistent when I want to be," D'jok said, smugly. Upon spotting the bag that Rocket was holding, he asked, "going somewhere?"

"Yes, I'm leaving Akillian, coming back here was a mistake."

D'jok was silent for a minute. He could just let him leave but that seemed wrong somehow. D'jok had pushed everyone away, hadn't he ever learnt from his mistakes? Sure, he had never been friends with Rocket, but that was then and this was a chance for a new start; something the both of them needed.

"Stay. Look, I'm sorry for my behaviour yesterday, I was out of line."

"You were always competitive; now that I've decided to leave you decide to go for the impossible and convince me to stay."

"And you weren't competitive? You just hid it better. But that was the past, there's a chance for a new life here, your Uncle knew that."

"I'm leaving and that's final, move out of my way," Rocket replied, coldly.

"All you ever do it leave, you haven't changed one bit!"

"This is different, there's nothing to keep me here, I'm not abandoning anybody," Rocket retorted, wearily.

D'jok stepped forward to give Rocket a poke in the chest.

"Is that it? You come back to Akillian only to scuttle off like a coward after just one day!"

"There's no reason to stay," Rocket insisted, with equal fire.

D'jok was going to argue but instead, somehow, completely against his will, he ended up grabbing Rocket roughly by the collar and pulling him into a savage kiss.

"Stay," he ordered when they finally broke away from each other.

Rocket took his revenge on D'jok, drawing him into a kiss as rough as their words for each other.

He could stay for just one more day.

**That's it for this fic, I know that the pairing is kind of weird but I couldn't get the idea out of my head. Reviews much appreciated! **


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